Minimum Wage $7.25 / HR
Pennsylvania follows the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. This is the minimum amount your employer must pay you for each hour worked. It applies to all workers in the state, regardless of job type or employment status.
Your employer cannot use deductions for uniforms, breakage, cash register shortages, or similar costs to bring your pay below $7.25 per hour. If deductions reduce your net pay below minimum wage, your employer is breaking the law. You are owed the full minimum wage for every hour you work, no exceptions.
Overtime Laws 1.5X RATE
Most employees in Pennsylvania must be paid overtime at 1.5 times their regular rate for all hours worked past 40 in a workweek. If you earn $7.25 per hour, your overtime rate is $10.88 per hour. Employers cannot get around this by changing your job title or paying you a salary.
A salary does not automatically make you exempt from overtime. To qualify for exemption, three things must all be true: your actual job duties must meet the executive, administrative, or professional test; you must be paid on a salary basis; and you must earn at least $684 per week. If any one of those three fails, you are entitled to overtime pay.
Pennsylvania also has a specific rule for hospitals and care facilities. Under Act 109, employers and employees in those settings can agree to calculate overtime on a 14-day, 80-hour period rather than the standard 40-hour week. Under that system, overtime kicks in when you work more than 8 hours in a day or more than 80 hours in the 14-day period. This must be agreed to in advance. It cannot be imposed on you without your consent.
Act 102: Healthcare Overtime PA SPECIFIC
Pennsylvania's Prohibition of Excessive Overtime in Health Care Act (Act 102) protects healthcare workers from being forced to work beyond their agreed-to schedule. The law applies to employees in healthcare facilities who provide direct patient care and covers hourly workers and nonsupervisory employees. Your employer cannot require you to work more than your predetermined, regularly scheduled shift.
You can agree to work overtime, and the law does not stop that. What it stops is your employer forcing you to stay past your scheduled shift without your consent. There are exceptions for on-call time and unforeseeable emergencies. There is also an exception when you are already providing care at the end of your shift and leaving would negatively impact the patient.
If you work in a Pennsylvania healthcare facility and your employer is routinely forcing you to work past your scheduled shift, that is a potential Act 102 violation. Complaints can be filed with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. If this is paired with unpaid overtime, it becomes a wage claim as well.
Employee Misclassification PA ADVANTAGE
Pennsylvania law presumes you are an employee. The burden falls on your employer to prove you are an independent contractor, not the other way around. A contract that calls you a contractor is not enough. The actual day-to-day working relationship is what the law looks at.
To classify you as an independent contractor, your employer must show two things: that you are free from their control and direction in how you do the work, both in your contract and in practice, and that you are customarily engaged in an independently established trade or profession. Both must be true. If your employer controls when, where, or how you work, that first test likely fails and you are an employee.
Construction workers have an added layer of protection under Act 72. In addition to those two tests, construction workers cannot be classified as independent contractors without a written contract. If you work in construction and there is no written agreement, your employer cannot call you a contractor under Pennsylvania law.
If you were misclassified, you may be owed unpaid overtime and other wages. Josephson Dunlap investigates misclassification cases in the State of Pennsylvania. Reach out to our team by calling 888-992-2290 or on the button below to get in touch.
Filing a Claim 2 YEAR WINDOW
You have 2 years to file a wage claim for unpaid minimum wage or overtime in Pennsylvania. The clock starts from the date you performed the work, not from when you found out about the violation. If this happened two years ago and you have not filed yet, you need to act now.
Filing sooner also works in your favor because Pennsylvania employers are only required to keep payroll records for three years. The older your claim, the harder it becomes to recover evidence. File as soon as you can. You can file directly with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry or pursue the claim through a private attorney.
Once you file, your employer cannot legally punish you for it. Firing you, cutting your hours, or harassing you in response to a wage complaint is against the law. If your employer retaliates, that becomes a separate violation on top of the original wage claim. Keep records of everything: pay stubs, timesheets, texts, and emails related to your pay.
Think You May Be Owed Back Wages?
Josephson Dunlap reviews wage claims for Pennsylvania workers at no cost. There is no fee unless wages are recovered. A case manager will go through your situation and tell you where you stand.